THE DIABOLICAL SUMMER GAMES PART 3

It had been a long and exciting week in the Kingdom of Clarity. The Diabolical Summer Games had once again proven to be very challenging and many strong competitors barely made it through the first round. The Queen of Clarity truly knew how to set the most tiring and strenuous obstacles.

With only the fairies and Husky wolves left to compete in the final course, one would think that the rest of the spectators would be satisfied just watching the competition. But everyone seemed to have forgotten about the wily witches and wizards conspiring with Masso, the grey, disgruntled, fire- seeking dragon.

“Are you sure no one saw you leave?”

“Are you questioning my skills, Wizard?”

“Only the ones that require you to not mess this up.”

“Hush, both of you. Wait until we’re inside the woods before you draw more attention this way.” Astrid, one of the witches who had been disqualified during the challenge in Rainfall Forest, silenced the argument between Masso and the wizard Dorfus harshly.

A small and secret group of witches, wizards and Masso the grey dragon, made their way furtively through the woods on the far side of the Kingdom, away from the palace and the other guests. After days of plotting and planning, today was their moment. They would finally prove to all the magical creatures who the most powerful were. And well, Masso just wanted to breathe fire. He had no other reason to be swayed into helping the mischief- makers.

“This is far enough.” Astrid halted in a small clearing and the rest of the group gathered around her. Dorfus used his wand to create a small circle of light so they could see just enough.

“Masso, I believe you have something for us?”

Masso stepped forward slowly and handed them a small, covered box. Astrid took it from him slowly and extremely carefully.

“Don’t drop it!” Dorfus grumbled and reached out to take it from her. “I’ll keep it safe until it’s time.”

As Astrid glared at him, he snatched the mysterious box from her hands and continued talking. “Masso, I suggest you stay far away from the competition grounds tomorrow. It’s going to be quite a spectacle!”

The other witches and wizards laughed menacingly and Masso felt his first hint of fear. Was he doing the right thing? It was harmless enough and no one would get hurt with such a small prank. It was fine, he was sure. And soon he would have his fire and all would be right with the world. He brushed away the uneasiness that seemed to have seeped into his bones and walked away faster than necessary. The rest of them dispersed quickly as well, unwilling to take a chance that they might be found out.

“Until tomorrow!” Astrid raised her wand and the rest of the witches and wizards followed suit. “Until tomorrow,” they all chanted.

While this secret meeting took place in the woods, the pixies were getting the grounds ready for the Final Game. They flitted around so quickly, they were just streaks of colourful mist in the sky. As the sun rose behind them, Queen Samara of Clarity and Fairy Queen Emilia of Mystical Falls walked over.

“Are you quite sure Emilia? We cannot make accusations without any proof of their possible meddling.” Queen Samara seemed worried, an unusual occurrence in itself. Nothing ever fazed her and she was well known for her calm and poise in the face of any challenge.

“My Queen, the witches were seen heading into the woods a few hours ago and they were accompanied by Masso, the dragon without the fire.” Queen Emilia shook her head sadly. “I had hoped we would make it through these games without incident but it seems Astrid and her followers have their own plan in the works.”

“Bring Inferno to me at once," Queen Samara ordered her guards. They ran off and within minutes they heard loud thumping and felt the earth trembling beneath their feet as Inferno approached.

“My Queens, how may I be of service today?” Inferno bowed deeply and waited respectfully.

“It’s Masso, I’m afraid. We have reason to believe that he has teamed up with Astrid and her minions to create havoc at the Final Game.” Queen Samara threw her shoulders back and exclaimed, “I will not allow it, Inferno.”

“No, my Queen, I will not allow it either. Leave it to me. I’ll take care of Masso.” As he prepared to storm off, Emilia flew in front of him and stopped him. “There might be another way,” she said in her soft, whispery voice. “Perhaps you could bring Masso to the Fairy Den and allow Sophia and Zara to find out what is planned.”

She glanced at Queen Samara and smirked, “We’ll get our answers using the power of the magic crystals and he will have no memory of any of it. None of the magic folk will suspect a thing.”

Inferno and Emilia both waited for the Queen of Clarity to respond. She nodded regally at them and told Emilia, “Let Inferno bring him to the Den and keep watch. I will make sure the pixies and soldiers keep track of where all the witches and wizards are.”

The three of them rushed off in different directions. Fairy Queen Emilia sped to the Fairy Den and startled Sophia who was just opening the door.

“No time to explain, Sophia dear. Just get the rest of the girls and some of the magic truth potion we made this morning. Looks like we’ll be using it, not selling it.”

Sophia immediately let out a soft whistle that brought all the other fairies to the den in seconds. “Zara, get me the purple potion bottle and add a few drops of the silver lily nectar.”

The fairies buzzed around while Sophia prepared the final potion and poured it on a small honey cake. They heard the stomping and rumbling outside announcing the arrival of the dragons.

“Fairies scatter!”

The fairies all flew off and hid while Emilia greeted Masso and Inferno at the door. Before they even said hello, Masso spotted the honey cake and lunged for it. Only crumbs on his snout gave any indication that the cake ever existed. That was a quick and easy way to get the magic truth potion in him.

“Good day to you Masso. I hope you are well.” Queen Emilia asked him sweetly as she led him to the table. “Not too well, my Queen,” he said sadly. “I gave Astrid the magic crystals to defeat the wolves and fairies but now my stomach feels funny and I keep thinking something’s wrong,” he continued woefully, with a little sniffle. “I just wanted to breathe fire like all the other dragons so they would think I was fearsome too. Now they all just laugh at me.”

Sophia and Zara felt bad for the poor shrivelled, grey dragon. His weakness allowed the others to take advantage of him. He wasn’t all bad. “Don’t worry, Masso, you did the right thing by telling us the truth. Even if you won’t remember it after an hour.” Queen Emilia ushered him outside and told Inferno what they had learned. “Don’t be too hard on Masso," she said quietly. "The strong always try to overwhelm the weak. They preyed on his need for acceptance with the rest of you. Maybe assure him that he is special without the fire.”

Inferno took a still rambling Masso away as the fairies figured out what to do. “How did they get the crystals?” Zara wondered out loud.

“It had to be Queen Mauvaisa of Mystical Falls. She is the only one who would conspire with the witches against us.” Emilia was incredibly angry. How dare anyone try and use the goodness and purity of the magic crystals to do bad deeds. “Let them try,” she murmured softly. “We have magic too.” They all huddled together and made the perfect plan to defeat the witches and wizards.

Noon struck loudly, with the clanging and thundering of every bell in the kingdom. The Final Game was about to begin. The remaining contestants, the Husky wolves and the fairies from the Dark Forest, stood in front of the castle as they prepared themselves for whatever the day brought.

“WELCOME!” Queen Samara’s voice echoed across the kingdom. “Our Final Game begins now. The grounds behind the castle have been transformed into a sea of hot, bubbling and very, very dangerous LAVA!”

There were gasps and exclamations from the crowds gathered below, loud murmurs and hushed voices talking amongst themselves. A sea of lava! How on earth were tiny fairies going to compete with these large, fierce wolves?

Fairy Queen Emilia walked to each of the five contestants and put a small amulet around their necks. “If you can’t go any further, the amulet will release a beam of light into the sky and you will be rescued by the Coven of Unicorns at once! Stay smart, stay strong and stay away from the lava.”

“THE GAME BEGINS NOW!”

With one last bell, the contestants shot off behind the castle and towards the terrifying sea of lava that appeared in front of them. What used to be a pretty garden with paths, flowers and waterfalls was now transformed into a swirling mass of fire. It looked like flaming mud, bubbling and hissing, spitting large balls of fire, the size of watermelons, in every direction. As the fairies and wolves reached the edge of the fiery sea, the heat engulfed them instantly. The wolves started coughing and rubbing their eyes while the tiny fairies were just stunned at the intense wall of heat bursting towards them.

“Stardust, can you see anything?” Moonlight and Sunbeam were petrified. All they could see was the pit of fire in front of them, with large rocks covered in flaming orange lava moving across the surface like fiery sea monsters.

“I can’t see a thing!” Stardust coughed loudly and the three fairies all held on to each other’s hands tightly.

“Aresto, stay close,” Lupo, one of the two wolves muttered hoarsely. “This smoke is making it impossible to see and the heat is making it hard to breathe.”

As the two groups struggled to get their bearings, Astrid, Dorfus and the other magic folk gathered in the distance. They were waiting until the smoke was at its peak. As soon as they saw the wolves and fairies step on the first set of rocks, they released the crystals, which went flying through the air and landed in the lava. Immediately actual fiery sea serpents emerged from the lava and lunged towards the poor fairies and wolves, who could barely see what was in front of them. They heard the loud roar above them and looked up in horror at the giant fangs of fire rushing towards them.

“GET BACK!”

Stardust heard the loud shout and was thrown to the ground along with Moonlight and Sunbeam. The wolves had covered the fairies and protected them from the fire serpents! Who would have expected that?

They got to their feet and faced the monsters together. Suddenly, they noticed all their amulets were glowing. What was going on? The glow became brighter and brighter and covered them in a shimmering light. The light burst into millions of fragments of ice and covered the fire serpents, who hissed and spit in vain. The ice was too strong. It covered them completely and melted them away into harmless puddles of muddy ice. They were lucky that all five amulets were together. The power released was five times as strong as it would have been otherwise. The witch Astrid saw this unfold and screamed in rage. Before she could rush forward to try anything else, Inferno, Fiero and the fairies of Mystical Falls surrounded the magic folk. They had been caught in the act and would now face the fire, so to speak, when they were brought before the Coven of Unicorns to determine their punishment.

The crowds had noticed this entire catastrophe happening and were entranced. The lava, the fire serpents, the flying ice and finally the capture of the witches and wizards was too much on top of the actual Final Game. This year’s games really had turned diabolical indeed.

Meanwhile, Stardust, Moonlight, Sunbeam, Aresto and Lupo had recovered from their scary encounter with the serpents and were finally starting the course. “Get on our backs,” Aresto said to the fairies. “We’ll end this together!”

The fairies quickly scrambled on the wolves and held on tight. "Sunbeam, use your light to clear a path in front of us.”

The wolves watched in awe as Sunbeam flapped her wings and extended her arms out in front of her. A small path cleared in the sea of lava. With each step, she cleared a little more. If the fairies were trying this by themselves, they wouldn’t have been able to move forward as fast as the wolves and might have gotten trapped in the lava. The wolves leaped across the path as quickly as she could create it. After several tiring and very hot minutes, they stumbled to the other side and collapsed in a heap on the cool grass. They felt a cool mist fall on them as Queen Emilia poured an entire bucket of water on each of them. They all laughed happily and hugged the wolves. “We all won!” They exclaimed in joy.

Queen Samara approached with Inferno, and surprisingly, with Masso as well. “I’m so sorry,” Masso wailed and threw himself in front of the Queen. “I promise to never listen to the mischief makers again!” The Queen accepted his apology with a slight nod. “Inferno has assured me there will be none of this again.” She told him sternly. He nodded fervently and raced away before she could change her mind.

“Well done, all of you,” she addressed the winners standing in front of her. “This is most unusual. We have never had five winners before. Most unusual,” she said again and walked over to Queen Emilia. The contestants watched them and waited, wondering how this would be treated.

After they finished their discussions, the Queens walked over to stand on the podium.

“We have reached a decision,” they announced grandly. Every one was glued to their seats. There was pin drop silence in the entire kingdom. Not a single bird chirped, the wind had stilled and not a blade of grass moved.

“For defeating not just the Final Sea of Lava, but also the additional fire serpents and still making it across, you all truly deserve the title of Champion. And we are proud to have not one, but five worthy champions. You all have earned the right to be winners of the Diabolical Summer Games. Claim your trophies and let us all CELEBRATE.” Every single person, animal, magical creature and more cheered loudly at the Queen's proclamation.

The entire Kingdom lit up with magical rainbows that sparkled and shimmered. Singing and dancing could be heard in every corner of the kingdom as celebrations continued through the night. The Kingdom of Clarity had once more hosted a magnificent contest. What wonders would their next magical contest be filled with? We can only hope we’re invited to the next one.